Yesterday I learned that Americans spend roughly 10 times as much on lottery scratch tickets as they do on pizza. This baffles me. I don’t eat pizza any more, but I’ve never purchased a scratch ticket (and expect I never will). Further proof that I’m an outlier, I guess.
Finished: Orange is the New Black 📚. I’ve never seen the TV show, and given that I watch zero TV, I never will. To be honest, I wasn’t real impressed. I already knew the prison system was badly broken, so I didn’t need a privileged white gal to tell me so. I hope reform gets a push from it though.
“All Your Pollen Belongs to Me”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens @ f/6.3, 1/400s, ISO 1250. At the North Bank Wildlife Management Area.
The NaNoWriMo organization is shutting down
Sad news. I completed NaNoWriMo 4 or 5 times - never anything really publishable, but I always enjoyed it.
Finished reading: The Mother 📚. Another of Pearl S. Buck’s novels of rural China in the pre-Communist era, this one is mainly a pretty depressing account of a life that spirals ever downward into age and loss. There is a bit of redemption on the very last page, but it’s not a fun read.
Screen time in bed linked to worse sleep, study finds
This is news?
Finished reading: Arc Light 📚. Given the current occupants of the White House & Kremlin, it probably wasn’t my smartest move to read a thriller about accidental nuclear war caused by idiotic leaders. Still, it’s a good story, though a bit dated (published 1994). Also still all too possible.
“After the Storm”
Olympus TG6 @ 12.7mm, f/3.9, 1/200s, ISO 100. Along the trail in Suzanne Arlie Park.
“No Parking”
Olympus TG6 @ 18mm, f/4.9, 1/125s, ISO 200. In Suzanne Arlie Park.
“Embrace”
Olympus TG6 @ 11.1mm, f/3.6, 1/250s, ISO 500. At the edge of Suzanne Arlie Park.
“Catenaries”
Olympus TG6 @ 18mm, f/6.3, 1/400s, ISO 100. At the edge of Suzanne Arlie Park.
“Oregon Sky”
Olympus TG6 @ 15.7mm, f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 100. View from Mt. Baldy.
Trump Anti-Voting Order Draws Furious Pushback
In case you missed the voter suppression executive order (you’re forgiven; there’s a lot going on), here’s some analysis from Democracy Docket.
“Sun at Pinard Falls”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 14-42 kit lens @ 22mm, f/9, 1/125s, ISO 1250
Trump is ‘not joking’ about third term, though Constitution says he can’t serve
I see the administration found a way to knock Signalgate out of the news cycle - and the media fell for it. With so many more important things (like voter suppression) going on, this shouldn’t be the main event.
“It’s Jelly Time (no PB)”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 14-42 kit lens @ 42mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO 2500
Finished reading: The Lineage of Lichfield 📚. This is a rather minor bit of Cabelliana. I’m linking to the archive.org copy; to get it in print I had to resort to a facsimile copy. In the main this is a genealogy of the descendants of Manuel the Redeemer to the 23rd generation, together with some reflections by Cabell on his own declining fame. It’s useful if you’re trying to follow the complex relationships between characters in the overall Biography of Manuel, and utterly pointless otherwise.
This climate podcast is my weekly dose of optimism. Instead of giving out the doom and gloom, Molly Wood focuses on solutions. Recommended.
“Capturing the Sun”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 14-42 kit lens @ 42mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO 400
This is also Spirit Falls. Same camera, same lens, but stitched together from two 2 second exposures at 29mm, f/9.0, ISO 100. There’s some art (or at least craft) to this photography stuff. You could probably do it all with AI, but I won’t.
